About working once retired.

moneyistooshorttomention

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Why would buying AVCs be bad advice?

That depends on what form the AVC's are in.

There was two options available when I worked in the Civil Service.

Option 1 - paying money into one of several private firms the Civil Service had chosen in order to receive extra. One of them was Equitable Life. Need I say more?:eek:

Option 2 - having a fixed deduction taken out of one's salary monthly to buy extra "time" in the Civil Service pension fund (ie for every year one worked for the Civil Service - one accummulated one years worth of job pension AND however much extra "time" one was buying). That "time" was under the Civil Service aegis and counted exactly the same as "worked for" pension.

Obviously, I knew that anyone taking on Option 1 should have a sort of Civil Service guarantee that they would ensure one got at least "what you paid for" and it would be reasonable to assume the CS provided such a thing. Fortunately, I'm that cynical that I didnt trust the Civil Service to provide fallback funding if anything happened to what was due from those private firms they had put us with.

Fortunately, I'm that cynical that I followed option 2 and bought extra "time" in the Civil Service pension scheme:D. They had no option but to ensure that things went "according to plan".:D There was no way they could turn round and say "Actually you're going to get less 'time' than you've arranged/paid to have":rotfl::rotfl:

*************

On the topic of people having lower costs when retired and finding they were better off than they thought they would be. That very much depends on what work costs one has had at an individual level. Counting out the money spent on buying extra Civil Service pension - there was basically no saving whatsoever in my case. I hadnt spent money on work transport costs. I hadnt spent money on clothes specially for work. I soon learnt that childless single people got the "wrong end of the stick" re paying in contributions towards presents for colleagues (basically presents were designed for people that did things like get married or have children and the rest of us were subsidising these lifestyle choices) and so I was only paying minimal payments towards those presents - as I knew I would only get minimal payments back in those circumstances. So - yep no savings on work expenses at all for some of us. Savings only really come if one has spent on things like commuting costs/work clothes/work lunches.

EDIT; Re Equitable Life see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10725923

In other words it was another set-up that a lot of my generation fell for along the "have an endowment mortgage instead of a repayment mortgage = your mortgage will be paid off ok on time and you will have a lump sum of money too" malarkey. I didnt fall for that one either - but a couple of my friends did...

lessonlearned

Money is right, work costs can vary substantially.

My husband was self employed - his work costs came out at roughly 50 per cent of the fees he charged his clients. Fortunately he was in high demand and could charge high fees. :rotfl:

My work costs were lower but even then when the children were young a fair proportion of my salary went towards child care......no child tax credits or free nursery places when I was a young mum.

In fact after one particularly disastrous summer when I was working part time in a building society earning Fairly decent money, I worked out that I had worked the entire school holiday for nothing.....all my salary had been used to cover childcare and summer activities.

I didn't particularly enjoy the job, there was no real chance of promotion so I decided it didn't really stack up money wise, so I chucked it. At the ripe old age of 40 I went to university instead. At least I didn't have to worry about childcare costs.

Farway

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

EDIT; Re Equitable Life see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10725923

In other words it was another set-up that a lot of my generation fell for along the "have an endowment mortgage instead of a repayment mortgage = your mortgage will be paid off ok on time and you will have a lump sum of money too" malarkey. I didnt fall for that one either - but a couple of my friends did...

I never fell for any of that either, being cynical I always thought, and still think, that if the Government or your, or any firm pushes something it is always in their interest first and yours last. Smart meters anyone?:D

dorothy52

Really enjoying this thread, as one who has to work till 66 and is now 58 I too am saving a lot of my salary to ensure a comfortable retirement. Love hearing stories of your parents. LL an Margaret. So much of what you say resonates with me. LL I was interested to hear that you went to uni in yor forties.......so wish that I had done that, one of my few regrets. Did it enhance your life an career? Margaret how is hubby now, you may have mentioned on another thread and I have missed it?

moneyistooshorttomention

Personally - I used to regret not going to University and yep...probably felt that way up into my 50s - and it used to be worthwhile going (hope it was for you LL:)).

Now though - I feel like if I had gone and ever commented to anyone about it that I would have to instantly add ".....and I got my degree back when....before they tried to get 50% of the population into University" (when apparently only 10% of the population have University level intelligence).

So - the only regret I have is that maybe I would have found a suitable husband for me (who would have had to be The One of course) whilst there. Rather than finding a high proportion of my male counterparts emerged already "taken" in that respect...

Re a degree itself per se - and I don't tend to feel I've got any regrets now about that. I do wonder if I would have had a decently-paid career instead of a poorly-paid job - but I'm not convinced (as I never knew what I wanted to do - and still don't:rotfl:).

lessonlearned

Good question Dorothy. I think it did but not sure how to explain it or how the "university effect" can be effectively measured.

You see I went back to my previous career, in fact I even went back to my old company. Doing exactly the same job!!!

But without a doubt I did it better and was more successful after university. I think this was down to confidence.

I think I always felt in some way "inferior". That I was never good enough, this despite the fact that I often realised I was waaay smarter than some my bosses. :rotfl: I had been brought up on a council estate and at that time girls of my age and class didn't go onto tertiary education. They became shop girls or factory fodder, if they were bright then might become nurses or secretaries. I went the secretary route at first, gradually drifting into house sales where I just happened to find my niche.

I worked for property developers selling houses. When I went back after university I found I was able to,really sink my teeth into the job, I took "ownership" and ran the job as if it were my own business, making decisions and being prepared to accept full responsibility for my decisions, being prepared to argue my case and get what I wanted.

I ran my sales complex as if it were my private kingdom......

This meant my sales rate soared and I quickly gained a reputation for being able to handle the most difficult and awkward of clients and most complex cases. I was often parachuted into failing developments where sales had stalled. Then, when I had turned them round I would demand (very nicely of course) to be given the nice sites.

I think I valued myself more and put a higher price on my abilities so I would negotiate myself good pay rises and better commission deals.
I think this went down well with my employers who began to show real respect for me. I know this sounds cocky but I found out that site agents......the ones who actually build the houses, would ask for me.

Could I have done this without university, yes probably because you don't need a degree in that line of work, it's more about your character and personal skills. But I think what gave me the edge was a new found confidence. I had proved myself academically and intellectually so I no longer felt inferior.

Yes I was probably "good enough" at my job prior to university. Certainly I never had any complaints from any of my employers but I think university was definitely the icing on the cake. It propelled my career into the stratosphere.

I was often head hunted and I eventually ended up owning my own prioerty company selling properties in Spain. I seriously doubt I would have ever had the confidence or courage to take on such an enterprise without taking that time out for my own personal development.

I do believe that university is about far more than just getting an academic qualification, I think it also helps develop character and skills which can translate into just about every area of life. I think it's just as much about personal development as it is about a piece of paper.

dorothy52

What a fantastic and reasoned response, andMoney, your reply is appreciated. How alike we are LL, I too am an older sister, grew up on a council estate in the sixties and no one really expected us to amount to much. Spot on money, back in the day only the top 10% went to uni and that is as it should be. I think having a degree makes employers take you more seriously, an many of my much younger colleagues have them of course, but apart from the fact that they can produce reports and have a great deal of confidence they are not THAT much better than the rest of us. It certainly seems to have been time and energy well spent in your case. Eeeee. If only we could turn back time

lessonlearned

Ah. Us sixties "dolly birds". No one ever took us seriously did they.

How's this one for a laugh.

I once landed a job In an insurance office. The interview was a riot.

I hadn't realised it at the time but the head honcho had a thing about never employing Catholics. So the guy who interviewed me tried to find out what religion I was. I told him (very politely) it was none of his business, it had no impact on my ability to do the job on offer.

Well he tried several times to catch me out, and every time I spotted the traps he was setting me. Eventually I lost patience and said "well do you want me or not". He said "I'll let you know" I asked "when" and he said "the end of next week". I said "I need your answer by close of business on Monday" stood up, shook his hand and walked out before he could say another word.

Of course I got the job........

A few months later I found my file and came upon his interview notes.

They said "sassy, great legs" and that was it.

In those days I think I was often hired purely on the strength of my looks ........no one cared whether I had a brain or not. If your face fitted you were in, all they wanted was good looking "dolly birds" about the place.

Can you imagine what would happen today if a woman found a note like that on her file.

She would sue the pants off them. :rotfl:

pollypenny

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Why would buying AVCs be bad advice?

Buying extra years in the existing pension scheme would have been better in a number of ways:

1. Would have increased tax free lump sum on retirement
2. Would have been eligible for dependents/spouse pension if I go first
3. Would not have been subject to the vagaries of the stock exchange and speculators,

moneyistooshorttomention

I certainly see your point about confidence level LL.

I certainly realised that all those people around me with degrees and the like had more confidence than I used to have. So - I copied their attitude as much as I could:rotfl:. If I knew they would expect "whatever it is" then I learnt that I must at least act like I expected it too.

I don't think I got their level of confidence - but it did help a lot to bump my own up to a good bit higher than it had been before I started copying their attitude to life.

I am having to "keep an eye on myself" to stick at it copying them - now they are no longer around as role models (courtesy of my having moved away from there). Particularly, as there are things that "chip away" at my confidence here that simply don't happen there (at least to me). So - I'm now currently working out the best way to respond to negative comments/attitudes towards me that I've not experienced before in order to stop them affecting my hard-won confidence.

I've come to the conclusion that "being firm" with negative comments/attitudes is the basic stance to take and am figuring out best forms of words to use back in response once (or twice if they're persistent), followed (if need be) by firmly walking away from person concerned and just not engaging with them. It's just the "odd one" that tries this ...but I had a particularly persistent "odd one" during the last week - and hence now working out strategies to deal with it.